Closure device for dispensing tubes

ABSTRACT

A closure device for closing necked dispensing tubes of the toothpaste type is provided, said device having major features which make it exceptionally convenient to use as it is constructed to be quickly opened or closed with a single hand, is non-losable from the tubes in either open or closed positions, and is semi-universal in being adapted to fit a variety of ordinary squeeze tubes of different neck diameters and types.

United States Patent [191 Russell May 7, 1974 [54] CLOSURE DEVICE FOR DISPENSING 3,369,720 2/1968 Libit et a1. 222/558 TUBES 2,545,350 3/1951 Fuld 1,630,222 5/1927 Simpson 222/558 [76] lnventor: Theodore B. Russell, 2190 NE.

24 s North Miami, 1 33 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Filed, Nov 29 1972 i 863,746 2/1971 Canada 222/558 PP- N95 310,252 Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Rehted s Application Data Assistant Examiner-H. Grant Skaggs, Jr. [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 149,574, June 3, Attorney Agent or Flrm john Oltman 1971, abandoned.

. [57] ABSTRACT 222/545 g fi gjgg A closure device for closing necked dispensing tubes Fie'ld 566 of the toothpaste type is provided, said device having M major features which make it exceptionally convenient U r Y to use as it is constructed to be quickly opened or [56] References Cited closed with a single hand, is non-losable from the tubes in either'open or closed positions, and is semi- UNITED STATES PATENTS universal in being adapted to fit a variety of ordinary 2,755,975. 7/1956 lsiundbe'rg squeeze tubes of different'neckdiameters and types. 3,152,727 10/1964 vans 3,069,040 l2/1962 Corsette 215/41 4 Claims, '7 Drawing Figures p 24 I O /-3o I9 -,-,,,-;-,w;m-:-:=z-

CLOSURE DEVICE FOR DISPENSING TUBES RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 149,574 filed June 3, 1971 now abandoned by the present inventor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Closing caps of the screw type commonly used on roll up and squeeze tubes require unthreading, removal, and temporary storage somewhere, and other inconvenient steps prior to squeezing the material within the tube, and then there are several steps in replacing them. Such caps, although widely used and accepted,

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a closure. for roll up and squeeze tubes that does not have the undesirable features of the screw type cap closure butinstead is a snap-open-snap-shut finger operated valve designed to be fitted by the user or factory just once to a tube, and is never subsequently removed, or at least is not nor- 'mally removed until the contents of the tube have been exhausted.

Toward the above end, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved closure device for a squeeze tube which cannot be lost from it during normal use.

Another object is the provision of an improved device for opening and closing a squeeze tube which is substantially more convenient for the 'user, requires few steps, is faster, and thereby encourages closing of the tube after use as well.

A further object is to provide a closure which is intrinsically cleaner in use thereby insuring improved cleanliness and freshness of the contents for future use and storage.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a closure which fits a variety of common squeeze and roll up tubes regardless of minor differences in thread or neck diameter.

. ON THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an enlarged view of a molded plastic closure device, also hereafter referred to as a stopper assembly, from a side view and in cutaway sectional view as well, and showing the device in the open position. The device is shown attached to a dispensing squeeze and roll up tube;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4 of the rear end of the body of the device;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the swing-- FIG. 7 shows the cap attached to a tube,

AS SHOWN ON THE DRAWINGS raised thumb lug 18, a sealing surface 19, a resilient locking skirt 20, and resilient arms 22 each hinged about one of a pair of hinge post buttons 24. In FIG. 1, the assembly 11 is shown in the open position inwhich the extemal opening 28 of the channel 25, extending through the body 14, is not covered. This cylindrical channel 25 joins another cylindrical bore not necessarily co-axially, which is the interior of the engaging skirt 32. In the partially cutaway view of the skirt 32, the threaded neck 30-of the tube 12 is engaged by the skirt 32 by interrupted threads 40 which are shown more clearly in FIG. 4. First and second sidewalls 26 and 27 e are preferably of resilient plastic material, especially in the case of 26 which forms the sidewall of the engaging skirt 32. Numeral 28 refers to the external opening of the orifice channel 25.

FIG. 2 is a section through the end of the stopper body which shows the cylindrical form of the channel 25 and the front end portion of the stopper body sidewall 27. v y

In FIG. 3 is shown the closing device or stopper assembly 11 in the closed position in which the cap 16 has been swung about the hinge post buttons 24 to seal the channel 25 by seating the sealing surface 19 against the end 36 of the stopper body 14 and is held locked or detented in this position by the pressure exerted by r the resilient plastic locking skirt 20 bearing around and against the rounded or tapered end 36 of the stopper body 14. V Q I FIG. 4 is a view of the assembly 11 disengaged from the tube 12, rotated, about its axis, and partially cut away to better show the hinge or pivot post button 24 and the interrupted threads 40. The interrupted threads also shown in FIG. 5 lie on the surface inside of the engaging skirt 32, which is substantially conically tapered inside, so that the device will fit with a stronger grip a variety of tube necks; and the interrupted threads lie in a moderately different angled relationship, as shown, to

the axis of the bore of the resilient engaging skirt 32 to also help adapt the device to a greater number of different threads. Universality is further-aided in the embodiment shown by reducing the interrupted threads 40 to a smaller length as the conical region is reduced in diameter so that only a limited length of a given circumference is threaded whatever the diameter, thus allowing threads to be engaged along their length and also to be more easily engaged when the skirt is screwed or forced into position on the neck of the tube.

In one embodiment of the invention, the tapered skirt 32is of an especially soft and resilient material having a smooth surface so that additional or primary mating threads are formed by cold flow or cutting by'simply screwing the tapered engaging skirtonto a threaded tube neck in which case the neck acts similarly to selfthreading screws.

In the view of FIG. 6 is shown the hinged cap and stopper body in exploded relationship. The hinge button post holes 50 fit over the hinge buttons 24 and are held there by an enlarged diameter 52 at the outer end of the button post. The holes then rotate about the lesshipment purposes.

The closure device or assembly 11 is simple to use. The engaging skirt is pushed and/or twisted into engagement with the neck of the squeeze tube; and this particular step is typically done just once during the normal use life of the dispensing tube.- The contents of the device with one hand and placing the thumb of that hand against .the thumb-lug l8 and displacing the cap 16, and, of course, subsequently squeezing the tube 12 I to force the contents through the channel 25.

To close off the tube and its contents, the cap is then similarly thumbed back into the closed position of FIG. 3, thus sealing off the channel 25.

In both opening and closing, one hand is left free for other purposes.

The cap cannot be lost or separatedfrom the tube in normal use since it is firmly buttoned to the devices stopper body, and'therefore there is also little danger of contaminating the contents by dropping and dirtying the cap or by leaving the tube open due to loss of a cap. This feature seems especially attractive in the case of toothpaste where screw caps are frequently dropped by both adults and children .down wash basin drains or diameter channel 25 (one half the diameter of the smallest diameter of skirt 32) may be used to limit the flow.

It is apparent from the foregoing description that the present invention provides a means of sealing squeeze tubes that is more convenient, generally cleaner, more foolproof, and sincethe invention fits a variety oftube types, more generally usable than closing means now wall, said first sidewall being sufficiently flexible and small at a diameter within the same to allow said engaging skirt to be fitted onto the neck of the dispensing tube and consequently elastically grip said neck, and with the internal surface of said engaging skirt surrounding said conical bore having interrupted threads for further fitting and increasing the grip of said engaging skirt to a variety of different kinds of tube necks having different diameters of threads so that one design of stopper body may be used with more than one variety of dispensing tubes of unlike design, said stopper body having a second axial bore surrounded by a second sidewall and communicating with said first axial bore of said engaging skirt, said second bore extending through the stopper body and ending as an external opening at the end of said body away from said engaging skirt, said end of said body being convex, the exterior of said stopper body on the outside of said second sidewall having a pair of opposed pivot connections the axes of which lie substantially perpendicularly to the axis of said second bore and between the outer 'end of tioning said locking skirt and said sealing surface on the cap for resilient deformation by said end of the stopper body when the cap is moved pivotally to a-position closing the external opening of said stopper body, with said resilient locking skirt of said cap deforming in contact with said end of the stopper body sufficiently to allow said skirt to pass over said end of, said stopper body andallowing said sealing surface to. be brought into position over and closing said external opening, and with the subsequent reformation of said skirt of said cap resiliently about said stopper body to thereby form a detent to keep said sealing surface in position over said extersmall lateral force to said cap to thereby overcome said detent, and to thereby pivot said cap at said pivot con-' nections on the stopper body into the open position to expose said external opening and thereby allow the subsequent forcing of said contents through said external opening by squeezing said dispensing tube;

- 2. The closure device of claim 1 in which said interiorof said engaging skirt of said stopper body is substantially conical and smooth, and of an especially soft plastic to allow the threaded neck portion of dispensing tubes to but further mating threads in said plastic at time of attachment of saidclosure device to said tube.

3. The closure device of claim'l in which said second bore is up to one-half as small as the smallest diameter of said first conical'bore to thereby reduce the flow rate of tube contents from saiddevice.

4. The closure device of claim 1 in which said interrupted threads are reduced in length toward the narrower end of said engaging skirt compared to the larger end thereof. 

1. A closure device for a dispensing tube having contents within and having a threaded neck portion with an opening therein, said device including in combination: a stopper body and a cap both of molded plastic construction with said stopper body having an engaging skirt at one end, said engaging skirt having an axial, substantially conical bore surrounded by a first sidewall, said first sidewall being sufficiently flexible and small at a diameter within the same to allow said engaging skirt to be fitted onto the neck of the dispensing tube and consequently elastically grip said neck, and with the internal surface of said engaging skirt surrounding said conical bore having interrupted threads for further fitting and increasing the grip of said engaging skirt to a variety of different kinds of tube necks having different diameters of threads so that one design of stopper body may be used with more than one variety of dispensing tubes of unlike design, said stopper body having a second axial bore surrounded by a second sidewall and communicating with said first axial bore of said engaging skirt, said second bore extending through the stopper body and ending as an external opening at the end of said body away from said engaging skirt, said end of said body being convex, the exterior of said stopper body on the outside of said second sidewall having a pair of opposed pivot connections the axes of which lie substantially perpendicularly to the axis of said second bore and between the outer end of said engaging skirt and said external opening; said cap comprising a concave, annular sealing surface surrounded by a resilient locking skirt, and, on opposed sides two straight arms extending along the outside of said second side-wall on the stopper body and pivoted to said pivot connections on the latter, said arms positioning said locking skirt and said sealing surface on the cap for resilient deformation by said end of the stopper body when the cap Is moved pivotally to a position closing the external opening of said stopper body, with said resilient locking skirt of said cap deforming in contact with said end of the stopper body sufficiently to allow said skirt to pass over said end of said stopper body and allowing said sealing surface to be brought into position over and closing said external opening, and with the subsequent reformation of said skirt of said cap resiliently about said stopper body to thereby form a detent to keep said sealing surface in position over said external opening, said detent requiring the application of a small lateral force to said cap to thereby overcome said detent, and to thereby pivot said cap at said pivot connections on the stopper body into the open position to expose said external opening and thereby allow the subsequent forcing of said contents through said external opening by squeezing said dispensing tube.
 2. The closure device of claim 1 in which said interior of said engaging skirt of said stopper body is substantially conical and smooth, and of an especially soft plastic to allow the threaded neck portion of dispensing tubes to cut further mating threads in said plastic at time of attachment of said closure device to said tube.
 3. The closure device of claim 1 in which said second bore is up to one-half as small as the smallest diameter of said first conical bore to thereby reduce the flow rate of tube contents from said device.
 4. The closure device of claim 1 in which said interrupted threads are reduced in length toward the narrower end of said engaging skirt compared to the larger end thereof. 